All Miki Koishikawa wanted was an ordinary family and that's exactly what she had until her parents decided to move in with another couple (as in switching spouses!) and turned Miki's world upside down. Now she lives in a house with four parents and her totally cute stepbrother, Yuu. It's bad enough being brought into her parents' strange soap opera, but Miki will star in a soap of her own as she deals with friends having affairs, trying to survive in school and ending up torn between her long-time crush, Ginta, and her new stepbrother!

This was one of the first manga I ever read. I couldn't even remember the name of this until all these years later, when I was staring at Orange Marmalade, going, huh, that title sounds like something. When I was young, this seemed so good. I think I was thirteen or fourteen when I picked this up, haha. I cried a lot reading it because it's full of melodrama. I think you'd be hard pressed to take much of the plot seriously if you're more mature. I think I'd have trouble getting through it without taking what-the-heck-moment breaks if I were to read it again now.Having said that, it's hard for me to give this a low rating, since it's an important part of what really got me into reading manga. I was a tween, okay. I definitely grew out of this type of manga, but it is pretty decent for such an old work. The style and story line were probably really good at the time it came out---though I wouldn't know, since I was 2 when it was published. It has its moments, though it is pretty typical of modern shoujo (characters and plot).

It's horribly illogical. Throw logic out the window. The two parent couples switching spouses starts the plot in motion. But get past that and the 'false incest' drama, and this manga is a fun read. It's got loads of cliche, but the majority of shoujo is cliche. And cliche makes stories work.

I don't understand how many reviews complain of MB being unrealistic or like a soap opera. In my eyes 99% of shoujo is guilty of the above. Fairytale world views and rollercoaster relationships are integral parts of the shoujo genre.

This manga does have cute art, and the story flows well. It also lacks cliches that I find annoying: falling in love with rapist, petty love rivals, flawless bishies (those princes who are cold, rich, perfect; but deep down inside they require healing), and clumsy heroines (can't seem to walk straight without knocking something over). There's also a lot of tennis playing.

Miki is annoyingly indecisive and angst does crop up in later volumes (oddly enough this near-the-ending angst approaches "realism", false incest aside...), and the plot drags eventually. But there's never a true "dark" moment. Cute and engaging- one of my definitions for good shoujo.

seriously, its kind of shallow. poor characterization, twisted story line.. *sigh. and just why is switching partners taken lightly?? not to mention, they decided to live in one house? sounds stupid if you ask me. i just dont like this kind of stories that lack real life situations. read it if u like typical and lame shoujos.

Put off reading this one for some reason, wish I had put it off for longer. After the ratings and the hype a let down actually. Started off well enough, then things got haywire after the "dad" assumption. The last few volumes center around misunderstanding and it was soo frustrating, Yuu really needs to ask questions instead of just setting his misunderstandings in stone..would've saved a lot of trouble. urghh. My 1 sitting reading left a bad after taste. Alright enough read if you've got time to waste. Art wasn't bad. Setting was done well.

This manga is good and all, but it's so typical shoujo. You've got your handsome boy, the simple and smiling girl, and to be honest, every single event that seems to be a "dramatic point" in the manga, I've read in countless other shoujo manga. If you're an avid shoujo fan, you've probably read this kind of manga many times. I'm not recommending it to anyone unless you plan to read 8 volumes and like these kind of stories. Halfway through, I couldn't bare to read it any further. The only point that was actually slightly interesting was

Spoiler (mouse over to view)

when Yuu turned out to be the son of a someone else, not Matsuura Youji (though that kind of thing is also pretty common if you think about it), but even that turned out to be untrue. I also disliked Yuu because he kept being so indecisive about his feelings toward Miki, not even bothering to check if they really were siblings or not.

The part about the two families living together just seems to be an excuse for Miki and Yuu to live together, it's really unrealistic.

There were entire chapters where I was like "KICK HIM IN THE @#$^$!" (Mostly near the end, I might add). Sadly (lol), this wasn't really that type of manga. XD

The mangaka is absolutely fantastic at drawing and placing hugs in Marmalade Boy. Honestly, each of the hugs in this thing were so full of emotion.

I didn't really like the final plot twist, but it wasn't two elongated that it bothered me. The manga probably would have gotten a 10 rating from me if it hadn't been there though. :/ (They did stick another fantastic hug at the end of it though, so I forgive them. )

Aside from their parents decision in the beginning, this manga can be considered slice of life The romance is sweet and nicely done even if it's predictable (kinda).Overall a bit clichee but I liked it and it's not overly dramatic.Spiced with some comedy that doesnt interfere with the romance and the dramatic parts and I gave it an 8/10.(It was one of the manga that got me into reading manga in the first place, wonder what rating I would give if I had read it now... Guess I'm kinda prejudiced here.)

Haha. It's so insane. Like it would ever happen in real life.But I love it anyway. xDD. It's a really good read, besides. It's funny and cute. I would read it just because how cute it is (makes me blush) and because I love Yoshizumi-sensei's art. From start to now.

I loved it. when i first read it i kept calling it a soap opera in manga form because the relationships are always changing with some plot twist. And the parents were just insain! this is what keeps it so awesome. I know reading it I would always make fun of it but that was only because I loved it so much. That and it was funny to begin with. Cute story, good ending. Love! Love! Love it!!

Thought it was a good series but felt the ending was meh. Not surprising because the manga-ka changed her mind about the main characters not being related after all when it was clearly pointing in the story that they were. The manga-ka commented in the extras that she felt it would have been a sad ending so lame. Overall good series just a dissapointing ending.